June 06, 2005

Building Great Relationships

To build great relationships, you must do 2 things:

Place a high value on people. Face it: if you're self-absorbed, you won't make building good relationships a priority. You've got to place a high value on people. That means expecting the best of them; assuming their motives are good unless they prove otherwise; valuing them by their best moments, not their worst; giving them your friendship with no strings attached, rather than asking for theirs.

Try to understand people. Many of us care about others, yet we still remain out of touch. Often that's because we don't try to understand them. Surveys consistently show that the number one problem in churches (and companies) that fail to grow, is leadership that's out of touch with people's needs.

To improve your understanding of people and build great relationships, keep in mind the following truths, and actions you can take to bridge the gap caused by them.

(a) People are insecure, so give them confidence.(b) People want to feel special, so sincerely compliment them.(c) People desire a better tomorrow, so offer them hope.(d) People need to be understood, so listen to them.(e) People are basically self-centered, so speak to their needs first.(f) People get emotionally low, so encourage them.(g) People want to be associated with success, so help them to win.

When you try to understand people and help them to succeed, you lay the groundwork for great relationships - and you influence people for God! --Author Unknown